The new DNA F1 A-cat

It definitely looks good!

According to a DNA employee posting over at Sailing Anarchy ( LINK ), the price will be around 21,750 Euros which is about $24,800 USD right now with a boat that is

ready to sail

including all lines, etc. I find that a little hard to believe that it will be that affordable but that's what he said. I'm pretty sure the last iteration of the DNA cost that for a platform without a mast or sails.

I thought it said for a platform only no mast or sail?

what's with the stealth fighter front beam? Does foiling really impact significantly enough to run aerodynamic studies on the beam? I understand the trampoline part... just not the beam...

Hmmm. Possibly. He said:

I suppose

ready to sail

was tempered by

everything related to a platform is included

...only after you add a mast, boom, rigging, and sail.

I would think so. The wind as a power source is fixed so anything you can eek out of it would be significant at the pointy end of the fleet. In wild guess mode, I'm guessing they might see as much as a 5% bump in aero efficiency with the boat at 25 knots. Foiling upwind/cracked reaching is probably seeing close to 30 knots across the deck.

First off - way cool boat. I want one. Now! Just need to rob a bank.

On the importance of drag reduction, I think its a bigger deal than we think.

Check the simplified biking drag calculator halfway down the page here: https://www.exploratorium.edu/cycling/aerodynamics1.html
20mph apparent wind yields 10.5N drag = ~2.4lbF (yes, dirty units)
30mph apparent wind yields 23.7N drag = ~5.3lbF

This is for a cyclist + bike. I know its apples/oranges for us, but still meaningful

From the article:

On a flat road, aerodynamic drag is by far the greatest barrier to a cyclist's speed, accounting for 70 to 90 percent of the resistance felt when pedaling.

On a % basis, the aero beam figures might be small compared with all the other sources of drag. But all things being equal on an absolute basis over a 40min race, it adds up.

Maybe we should start wearing skin-suits?

That's how I interpreted it. But still not too bad considering the platform was close to that price before if I remember correctly.

yea but what happens when you bury the bows down to the front beam. does that drive you under?

And Wow is that sexy!

I'm going to need a towel.

Maybe. But you certainly won't appear on anyone's radar display with that carbon shape... So good luck seeing your nose-dive on radar/video

I'm a little awestruck at how this F1 DNA will probably redefine what a

modern catamaran

will be in the near future. They put a lot of thought into this boat. While I'm still not sold that foiling is everything it's cracked up to be (particularly on inland lakes), boats like this make it start to really look purposeful. The fact that Mischa was foiling this thing upwind and tacking through 105 degrees is impressive.

I bet the mast will see the next development step with a different profile. Although bend characteristics have changed quite a bit, the standard a-cat mast configuration has been relatively unchanged for several decades and it just looks

old

when it sits atop this boat.

I presume you guys also noticed that the trampoline has an upper and lower layer. The control lines that go through the top do not penetrate the bottom to keep the air flowing through the bottom smooth.

JC mentioned in his podcast about the benefit lower COE when foiling. perhaps this might indeed change mast/sail/wing design as well?

I've been thinking that front beam fairing needed to happen for several weeks now. It also helps solve the problem of the mast rotation bar which was less than ideal.

I love the boat, visually I think it obsoletes all of the current foilers. I have mixed feelings on that. Though I am glad the see the price is similar.

I've been wondering if the stability of foiling means a wing mast would pay now?

I want one. badly.

found a price list. Fully equipped in clear carbon with foil covers, boat yard cover, lycra trailering cover, mast, boom, standing riggin/trap, sail (decksweeper), etc....30.690 Euros ($35,000 USD) before delivery / taxes.

If you want it painted a color, it's an extra $1,100.

That's kinda what I was thinking about the mast development. Maybe not a full-on wing sail (weight) but a significantly larger (possibly structured) mast with a smaller fabric sail behind it. ...Something somewhat between both worlds.

Ben Hall talked about his in JCs podcast, too. Apparently with a few updates it would be ideal.

I agree that this boat is bad butt. All of the details look so nicely executed. I think a few are coming to the US this summer as are new eXploders. As I understand it, both manufacturers now use CFD for analysis and design. Incredible to see that level of refinement for a small catamaran.

Foiling is really powerful even in the lake environment. At Lake Lanier in lighter air if I or others can get on the foils, the distance to other boats increases dramatically. At the very best case for foilers in just foiling conditions, they can sail about the same angle as a boat that is going mild downwind but be foiling. It's a good thing we have gone to breaking out classic and foiling boats in scores for this reason.

The downside seems to be that as the boats get more optimized for foiling, they are suffering on mild downwind performance. I haven't seen any deck sweeper that will go as well as a regular sail and boom configuration in light air downwind.

When I bought a DNA before in 2012, it was 15.5K Euros for the platform, so this one has gone up about 5K Euros and a ton of advancement in style and design and performance.

PS - check out the sealed trampoline Bach made for me on the eXploder. I think he has gotten quite a few orders and has started putting a lighter pentex material underneath to reduce weight a couple of months ago just like the newly released DNA. Way to go Carolina Sails in Greenville, SC. I noticed the boat felt quicker upwind even when sailing with a traditional rig and not the deck sweeper Bach built for me that I use now. I also seem to be getting better gas mileage when towing and noticed the trailer getting a little skittish at 80. It's cool that both the DNA and eXploders from the last several years are already built with a wing shape in the underside of the trampoline. <img src="https://www.dropbox.com/s/fgjgssc2z6yf0jp/2015-11-20%2016.28.19.jpg?dl=0" alt="" />

I really wish you guys would come up with another moniker than

classic

.

Like what,

floater

or

wave hugger

?

That new boat is unbelievable.

Mike

average
classic
clichéd
conventional
exemplary
hackneyed
model
most characteristic
paradigmatic
prime
quintessential
representative
standard
stereotypical
stock
textbook

No, no, no...something contextually entirely different. A

classic

car is old as crap. My A-cat is not old. To infer that an A-cat that is only a few years old is a

classic

is just terrible marketing for the class, bad for boat resale value, and marginally insulting (it's obvious that the

classic

moniker was conceived by people who owned foilers). Besides, the real

classic

a-cats have always been the higher weight wood a-cats that even have their own portsmouth rating.

Full Foiler, semi-foiler...something like that. We essentially have two different classes of boats. While it's likely that the future class will eventually be all foilers, that isn't set in stone just yet. Even the non-foiling A-cats are a genuine pleasure to sail and unlike what happened with the moth, there really isn't another boat that competes with the features of either a-cat variation.

Maybe the foilers should be the ones that get a new designation - let's call them A-cat-BMWs. (Buying My Wins) <img src="<>/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin" height="15" width="15" />

Good feedback, Jake. I'm not sure where the classic term came about. I probably first heard it from John Scheifer a few years ago when the C board boats were going faster and faster. John is definitely not a foiler!

You are exactly right on all the boats being quite good as they are. A 2002 Flyer will still give tremendous pleasure to sail compared to most any other cat out there.

Sometimes people say floaters and foilers. And the importer of eXploder called himself a sinker because he is a non-foiling foiler. I'm up for any good name and welcome ideas.

Looks like built in one piece like the Whisper cat from England. That would account for the lighter weight and the shape of the beams. very cool
Some one should re visit the sloop rig now that they are stable foiling.

That might explain it <img src="<>/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin" height="15" width="15" /> English isn't his thing.

Displacers

?

Or

low-riders

?

I kinda like low-riders.

The problem is the older C board boats still foil too, but not very often. I watched Ken Marshak foiling upwind one time on his 2012 DNA C board boat when sailing in heavy air on a close reach back to the beach. It wasn't stable flight but it was definitely getting up there. And here is another video of him sailing in heavy air and trying to get air born by mistake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzgmXL32U5s

low-riders is fun.